


A Melody

by ElectricRituals



Series: Melodies [2]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Canon Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, Eventual Threesome, Jealousy, M/M, Nightmares, Other, PTSD, discussions of poison, discussions of torture, jaskier is the real hero, vengeful bard, will add more tags as necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:14:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricRituals/pseuds/ElectricRituals
Summary: After saving Eskel from certain death, Jaskier travels alongside the witcher to Kaer Morhen.
Relationships: Eskel/Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Eskel/Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Eskel/Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: Melodies [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980283
Comments: 70
Kudos: 280





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is a sequel to A Melody of Suffering so if you haven't read it, I would start there!   
> Updates will be inconsistent but I have a bit of this wrote out already and a solid plan for the rest!

Eskel fell asleep quickly, exhausted from his day. Jaskier couldn’t help but watch the witcher as he slept, still worried for his safety. They hadn’t spoken much past Jaskier confirming they were in a safe location and that Eskel didn’t have any important injuries that needed to be tended right way.

After that, Jaskier managed to get Eskel to eat a bit of the food Jaskier had with him and then had settled down, saying he needed sleep to recover some strength.

Jaskier knew that he should be sleeping but he just… couldn’t. It felt like abandoning the witcher almost, leaving him sleeping with no guard to make sure they were safe. No, Jaskier would stay awake tonight and keep an eye and an ear out for danger.

-

Eskel woke slowly, not jumping to awareness like he normally would. Sitting up, he took in his surroundings carefully. He remembered the night before, but it was a foggy memory. He took in the clearing around him, Scorpion, his stallion, peacefully grazing, and the man that saved him, sitting across from him, scribbling hastily in a journal.

The man had introduced himself the night before as Jaskier but had given no other information. Eskel watched the man curiously, wondering why he had saved him. What he could possibly want from Eskel? And most importantly, why the name sounded so familiar.

Suddenly the man across from him looked up and met his eyes, his face breaking out into a smile. “You’re awake! And looking much better, as well. How are you feeling?”

“Feeling much better, too. Well enough to travel on, I think. Did you get my things from the village?” He would be fine without his armor and swords if he had to be, but they wouldn’t be easy to replace and he couldn’t earn the coin to do so without them.

Jaskier stood suddenly, moving to the saddle bags and leaning over them, “I’ve your armor here, and I must say I was confused to see it wasn’t black, I really was starting to think it was the dress code of a witcher. And your potions are in this bag. You might want to stock up on some more swallow, you only have two bottles. And your swords are here, they seem to be in need of cleaning, but I thought you would want to handle that yourself.” Jaskier spun around, swords in hand, and walked to Eskel, “I know how particular you witchers are about your swords so here you are!”

Eskel reached out and took the swords from Jaskier’s outstretched hands, taking a second before responding. Jaskier had just said… a lot. He clearly knew a bit about witchers. More than a bit, really, if he could identify potions. And he didn’t seem scared of Eskel, happily handing the witcher his swords.

“How do you know so much about witchers?” Eskel finally asked.

Surprise lit up Jaskier’s face, “Of course! How rude of me. I never did properly introduce myself! My name is Julian Alfred Pankratz but you’ll more likely know me as Jaskier the Bard. I wrote everyone’s favorite hit, Toss a Coin to Your Witcher!” Jaskier’s eyes sparkled as he smiled with pride.

And now Eskel knew why he had recognized the name, “You’re Geralt’s bard!”

“Ahh, well, I prefer to think of Geralt as my witcher, actually. But I suppose the sentiment is the same. Does that mean he talks about me? Do you two know each other well?” Jaskier sat beside Eskel as the witcher began wiping down his silver sword.

“We’re the same age, became witchers together. We winter together so I’ve heard of you a time or two, bard. You’ll have to play me something.”

Jaskier beamed, “It would be my honor. But I think once we’ve cleaned up, we should move on. We’re not nearly as far from that village as I would like to be, I’m afraid.”

Eskel nodded in agreement, putting some distance between the village and themselves sounded like a wonderful idea.

-

The pair had been travelling half the day before Jaskier pulled out his lute and started playing. He was surprised when Eskel had smiled, occasionally humming along. Travelling with Eskel was proving very different than travelling with Geralt.

“Y’know, Geralt would have told me to shut up seventy-three times and threatened me at least eight times by now.” Jaskier finally mentioned, offhand, startling a laugh from Eskel.

“Geralt can be… difficult. He always had been. When I heard he’d taken a travel companion I was surprised.”

“Oh. Well, I didn’t give him much of a choice, I just kept following.”

Eskel snorted, “If Geralt didn’t want your company then you wouldn’t have been able to find him to follow him.”

That made Jaskier fall into a contemplative silence. He had never really thought of it like that. He knew, logically, Geralt could leave at any time, but he had never really thought about why he didn’t leave.

-

They had found a village that seemed nice enough by nightfall and the two rented a room. The innkeep offered to send up dinner but Jaskier politely declined. The two would use their travel rations for a bit longer, just in case.

They had settled upstairs, Jaskier sitting cross legged on his bed, Eskel laying on his back on his bed, before Jaskier had brought up the poisoning again.

“We need to do something. That can’t happen again. We have to stop them.” Jaskier started, his mind racing with possibilities of how to stop the village alderman from every going after another witcher.

“Nothing to do. I should have been more careful.”

“You should have been more careful?” Eskel didn’t think he had ever heard someone sound more indignant than Jaskier did in that moment, “No, they should just not poison and capture and torture people. It’s not hard.”

“They know no better.” Eskel had always been the diplomatic sort.

“Then they can learn.” Jaskier had never been diplomatic a day in his life.

Eskel felt like he was talking to a brick wall, trying to explain to the bard why he needn’t be so angry. He is a witcher, it comes with the territory. Maybe it isn’t right, but it’s how it is.

His main concern was getting to Kaer Morhen and letting the other witchers know, know there is a poison that can weaken them greatly without being detected, know there is a village willing and ready to attack them. “Jaskier, I just need to get to the keep and let everyone else know.”

“Yes! A brilliant idea. I will accompany you and we will make a plan over winter. Genius idea, truly.” Jaskier hopped out of his bed and hurried over to Eskel, pressing a quick kiss to Eskel’s scarred cheek.

The two had been travelling together for a day and already Eskel understood exactly why Geralt always spoke of the bard with such fond exasperation. He really did and said whatever he wanted, consequences be damned, but he was so earnest and genuine in his actions despite it. 

Jaskier had been a lot for Eskel to get used to initially, he just never seemed to stop. He was constantly moving and fidgeting and singing and talking and asking questions, though he never seemed to need a response, and he was just so very different to anyone Eskel had ever met. He had thought it weird that Geralt had taken to travelling with a bard but now, spending time with the bard in question, he could see the draw.

It was nice to just exist in someone’s space without them asking anything of you, without them being scared of you.

He watched the bard wander around the room, rounding up all the items he had scattered everywhere when they had first come in, “Jaskier, I’m not sure you coming to Kaer Morhen is the best idea.”

Jaskier let out an offended noise, spinning to face Eskel and pointing a finger at him, “It is the best idea, actually. And you can’t stop me.”

Eskel huffed a laugh, the young man was a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure, “Alright, bard. If you insist.”

Jaskier’s beaming smile in response made Eskel feel… something.


	2. Chapter 2

The two left early the next morning, Eskel offering for Jaskier to ride on Scorpion and Jaskier laughing him off, saying his thighs wouldn’t survive a lengthy horse ride, he was rather out of practice.

Very few market stalls were open on their way out of the village but Jaskier was able to get more food for the two’s journey. Jaskier felt it best to have a heavy stock of food in case Eskel wasn’t comfortable eating in villages, hunting would get harder the farther north they travelled this close to winter.

This day’s travel was very similar to the previous day’s, the two chatting idly with Jaskier filling any silences with music. Eskel couldn’t help but reflect on how nice it was, travelling with someone who wanted to be there. Someone friendly and cheery and everything Eskel didn’t normally get to experience.

Jaskier was basking in the attention he was receiving. No matter how much Jaskier might love Geralt, the man was not particularly chatty, and he certainly had a penchant for ignoring Jaskier. Eskel, however, was engaging and seemed to be enjoying Jaskier’s constant, never ending flow of thoughts.

“How long will it be until we reach Kaer Morhen?” Jaskier finally asked, wondering if they would get there before the weather turned.

“Shouldn’t be more than a week. We’ll be there a bit earlier than the others, but we shouldn’t run into the worst of the weather that way.”

“Who all will be there for winter?”

Eskel hummed, “Should just be us, Lambert, Vesemir, and Geralt, but sometimes witchers from other schools stay for the winter, not often though.”

Jaskier would be spending his winter with four witchers. Four witchers filled with stories of battles and victories and losses and no telling what else.

 _This will be a wonderful winter_ , Jaskier thought to himself.

-

As night approached, so did another village. Jaskier had noticed Eskel getting quieter, more tense, as they travelled on, but it was a while still before the village came into view. When Jaskier finally noticed how close they had come to a village, it finally made sense to him why Eskel had become so withdrawn. He must have heard the people and goings on of the village a mile back.

Jaskier hesitated before reaching out and resting his hand on Eskel’s leg, getting the witcher’s attention, “Maybe we could skip this village? The night is nice, and we needn’t any supplies. We could save the coin.”

Eskel slowed Scorpion to a stop and stared down at Jaskier, “We… can. Yeah, we can.” He then urged Scorpion to walk again, leading them off the path and into the wooded area nearby. He quickly found a small clearing near a stream and indicated to Jaskier they could stop there for the night.

As Eskel dismounted, Jaskier immediately set to making camp, clearing away some errant sticks, moving packs around and grabbing kindling and few larger branches to pile on the fire. Eskel watched Jaskier curiously, he clearly had a system and Eskel could easily see Geralt’s influence reflected in the bard’s efficiency.

As Jaskier knelt down to start the fire, he caught sight of Eskel watching him, still standing where he had dismounted from his horse. “Oh, sorry. Do you have a certain way you like to do things? I suppose I should have asked instead of just doing. I can stop, would you like me to stop?”

Eskel huffed out a laugh, “No, you’re doing a great job setting up camp.”

Jaskier preened, going back to lighting the fire. Eskel watched attentively ask Jaskier struck the flint once, twice, three times, and the kindling caught. He quickly built up the fire and stood, finally laying out his bedroll.

“You’re very efficient,” Eskel said, drawing Jaskier’s gaze back to him, “I can tell you travel with Geralt.”

Jaskier smiled brightly, “Really? Is it how I do things? I had a very minimal knowledge of camping and the like so Geralt taught me most of it.”

“Yeah, you do things like Geralt does, the same order and such.” Eskel grabbed his bedroll and potions bag, sitting on the opposite side of the fire from Jaskier to take stock of his potions. He frowned as he sorted through the bottles, Jaskier hadn’t been wrong when he’d said Eskel was running low on potions. Lower than Eskel remembered being. With any luck, some of the villagers had grabbed them and would die a painful death from the toxicity of them.

Jaskier sat across the fire, fiddling with his lute. He felt the need, the urge to write something, but the flow of words he normally experienced was missing. He was about ready to give up for the night when Eskel interrupted his musings, “Thank you.”

Jaskier looked at Eskel curiously, “Whatever for, dear?”

Eskel looked down, appearing almost bashful, “For suggesting we camp for the night. I wasn’t looking forward to the village.”

“Ahhh, of course, dear. I wouldn’t be too keen on villages myself if I were you. Hell, I’m not feeling to keen on them as it is, actually.”

Eskel smiled appreciatively, “Well, I’ll have to get over it soon. The further north we go the colder it’ll get. Won’t be able to keep camping out all the time.”

Jaskier frowned, “I thought witchers were fine with the cold? Isn’t your body temperature very high?”

“It is,” Eskel agreed, “but yours isn’t.”

Jaskier scoffed as if Eskel had said something ridiculous, “That won’t be a problem! You’ll just have to keep me warm! And I suppose I should pick up some warmer clothes coming up as well.”

The statement was so casual that Eskel didn’t know how to respond. Jaskier said it as if sharing body heat, sharing space with a witcher was the most logical solution. Something common place, a day to day occurrence.

And maybe it was for Jaskier. Eskel didn’t really know what Jaskier and Geralt got up to when they’re on the path together. It was possible that their relationship was more than Eskel had first assumed.

“How long have you and Geralt travelled together?” Eskel finally asked, trying to think of a subtle way to find out the exact nature of their relationship.

“Oh, on and off for the better part of a decade.”

A decade is… a very long time. The idea of Geralt being willing to spend so much time with someone was strange.

But Geralt had changed a lot since the two had been young witchers, just setting out on the path. Eskel didn’t get to see much of Geralt anymore, with so few witchers around, their paths rarely crossed, so the winters they spent together, Eskel treasured.

When the pair had been younger, particularly before and right after the trials, they had been each other’s only real support. They could count on each other, they knew, but they had to be careful with anyone else. Things had, of course, changed as the pair had gotten older. They met other people and forged new alliances, but Eskel would always trust Geralt more than anyone else.

Hell, Eskel loved Geralt. At first Eskel had thought it was familial, brotherly love. But now, Eskel knew different. Lambert was his brother, Vesemir was the closest thing to a father he would ever have, and Geralt… well, Geralt was different.

But that wasn’t something that was meant to be, so there was little use entertaining the idea. So maybe he shouldn’t bother Jaskier about his relationship with Geralt, it really was none of his business.

“So… you two are… friends?”

Jaskier’s eyebrows shot up, not expecting a follow up question, “Yes? I mean, yes. We are. Why do you ask?”

Eskel felt his face heating up, “I just didn’t know if you were friends or… something more.”

Jaskier’s face fell, “Ahhh, no. Simply friends. And with that, I think I’ll be off to sleep.”

“Yeah,” Eskel agreed, “me too.”

Eskel laid down in his bedroll, staring at the night sky until he drifted off to sleep.

-

It hadn’t been more than two hours when Eskel shot up suddenly, grasping his sword, his chest rising and falling heavily, poised to strike any unseen threats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, very minimal effort was put into editing this so if you see any glaringly obvious spelling or such errors give me a shout :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo, this chapter was troublesome, turns out I have no idea how flirting works, but I think Eskel manages alright (certainly better than me), I hope you guys enjoy!

Eskel didn’t realize immediately he was shaking as he listened to his surroundings, it wasn’t until he determined there was no movement nearby that he realized his sword was unsteady in his hand. He slowly sheathed the blade and sat back down on his bed roll, heart pounding, feeling dizzy.

It had been a nightmare.

Flashbacks, really.

_He was feeling sluggish, confused. His hands and feet were becoming numbing, his movements becoming more difficult with every passing step when suddenly, he was surrounded._

_Normally, he would have noticed the ambush well ahead of time, been able to disappear or even fight them off, but his body wasn’t cooperating. Poison._

_As men surrounded him, he felt his stomach drop._

Everything had been blurry after that. The only other clear memory he had was the pain he felt from his naked knees hitting the ground as he collapsed, the bonds around his wrists keeping him upright even as his body sagged.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been there, unable to move, strung up for the disgusting pleasures of the twisted village, before Jaskier had freed him.

_Jaskier_.

Eskel looked over to the sleeping bard, not sure how he hadn’t registered the man’s presence.

Unwilling to dull his senses with sleep again, fearing another nightmare, Eskel rested on his knees on his bed roll, attempting to settle into a light meditative state. After a distressing amount of time, Eskel found his mind wouldn’t calm enough to meditate.

Looking around the campsite, he noticed a tree just at the edge of the clearing with low, strong branches, and he decided that working his body might help his mind rest.

-

Jaskier woke slowly, rolling on his back and stretching, trying to relieve some of the tension he always got in his lower back after sleeping outside for a while. He sat, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, finally looking over to Eskel’s empty bedroll.

Frowning, Jaskier quickly looked around the campsite, noting the witchers belongings all where he had left them the night before. Just as he opened his mouth to call out for Eskel, he finally noticed the witcher.

Doing pull ups.

On a tree limb.

Shirtless.

Jaskier couldn’t look away, the witcher’s muscular torso damp with sweat and his arms flexing. When Eskel finally released the branch and dropped to the ground, landing in a low crouch, Jaskier was still sitting on his bedroll, open mouthed.

Eskel looked at Jaskier, sitting dumbstruck, and raised an eyebrow, “Everything alright?”

Jaskier let out an embarrassing squeak, his cheeks turning red, “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

Eskel slowly approached Jaskier, towering over the bard with smile on his face, “If you say so. Ready to get a move on?” Jaskier nodded and moved to stand.

They were quiet as they packed their things and got dressed for the day. Jaskier grabbed his lute and slung it over his shoulder, “Alright, I’m ready when you are.” Eskel nodded at the bard and grabbed Scorpion’s reigns, leading the two toward the road.

-

Travelling was slower today, with Eskel tired and Jaskier distracted.

Jaskier had been uncharacteristically quiet, occasionally strumming his lute or playing a short tune, but his mind was occupied elsewise. He had spent nearly his entire adult life hung up on a witcher, and he finally meets another witcher, and bam! Now he’s hung up on two.

And maybe it wasn’t quite the same, Jaskier knew he was in love with Geralt, had been for an embarrassingly long time, but he didn’t know Eskel nearly as well, certainly not well enough to be in love with him.

But the little smiles Eskel sent his way and his comments on Jaskier’s playing and his friendly banter and his _body_ certainly had Jaskier _wanting_.

It was around midday when Eskel decided to walk next to Jaskier, claiming Scorpion would tire of his weight soon enough. Their banter carried on as before but now with the added bonus of Eskel gesticulating nearly as wildly as Jaskier and proving to be very tactile. He was quick to rest his hand on Jaskier’s shoulder or to clap him on the back when Jaskier made a particularly good joke.

And it was a lovely time.

But Jaskier didn’t know what to do with himself. The camaraderie was wonderful, they were getting along splendidly, but he didn’t have the slightest clue what to do with the attraction he was feeling to the witcher.

Ignoring his attraction to Geralt hadn’t failed him yet in the past decade, though. Jaskier mentally nodded to himself, pleased he’d come up with a solution to his problem.

A few miles down the road, Jaskier decided that maybe just _ignoring_ his attraction to Eskel wouldn’t quite work. With Geralt it was easy, the man mostly kept himself at arm’s length, he wasn’t particularly talkative, and he didn’t often initiate contact.

Eskel was proving to be _very_ different from Geralt.

Eskel was happy to chat back with Jaskier, sharing anecdotes and stories of contracts and all the things he’d experienced, telling Jaskier of all his favorite places to travel to. And he did all of this talking while keeping in near constant physical contact with the bard.

And every single touch was making Jaskier go mad.

-

Eskel wasn’t sure exactly what his plan was, but he wanted to be certain that he was reading Jaskier correctly.

That morning, Eskel had only noticed Jaskier when he picked up on the bard’s scent changing. His natural scent reminded Eskel of the ocean, light and fresh, but suddenly it had changed, deeper and almost spicy.

A change that Eskel had always associated with lust.

But Jaskier hadn’t done or said anything to indicate he was attracted to Eskel. The bard was continuing on, business as normal.

Maybe he just wasn’t interested in men.

Eskel looked over to the three travelers passing by the opposite direction and let out a hum, leaning over to Jaskier to whisper in his ear, “Can’t say I’m overly fond of humans at the moment but that one is awful tempting, don’t you think?” Eskel indicated the man walking slightly behind the other two, he was fairly tall and decently well built, most likely a farmer by the looks of him.

Jaskier stumbled.

Eskel reached out and put a hand on Jaskier’s shoulder, “You alright?”

Nodding, Jaskier stuttered, “Yeah I’m fine. He… uhh… yeah, he was attractive. I suppose. Yeah.”

Eskel smiled.

-

When the pair stop for lunch, Eskel decided to push Jaskier a little farther. The more time he spent with the bard, the more interested in him Eskel felt.

He looked over at Jaskier, taking in the man’s appearance. He was wearing an incredibly detailed doublet, unbuttoned, and matching trousers. The set looked very nice and extremely expensive, clearly tailored to Jaskier’s measurements.

Eskel cleared his throat, “That doublet looks very good on you.”

Looking up at Eskel, surprise furrowing his brow, Jaskier responded “Ahhh, thank you? It’s the best work you can find in Novigrad. It’s out of season though.”

“Well,” Eskel started, “I don’t know much about what is and isn’t in season, but I do know that it fits you well, you really do look good in it.”

Jaskier blushed, ducking his head, “Thanks.”

-

The two finally found a good place to make camp for the night and Eskel started setting everything up while Jaskier walked down to the small stream to clean up from the last couple days of travel.

Through the rest of their travels, Jaskier had seemed more receptive to Eskel’s continued flirting, leaning into his touches, smiling more at his compliments, but the bard never reciprocated. Eskel decided he would try one last time, before the two laid down to sleep, and if the bard didn’t seem enthusiastic with the attention, he would drop the whole matter.

Jaskier came back to camp and sat upon a log, watching Eskel as he finished lighting the campfire. Eskel stood and swiftly walked to Jaskier, settling beside him on the log.

Jaskier had just opened his mouth to say something when Eskel leaned in close, his face close to the crook of Jaskier’s neck. Eskel inhaled and then said lowly, “You smell nice.”

“Ahh… thanks?” Jaskier squeaked out as Eskel pulled back slightly, meeting the bard’s eyes. Jaskier’s pupils were blown, the blue of his irises just a thin ring, and his gaze was fliting down to Eskel’s lips.

Eskel smiled, he had been right all along. He put his hand under Jaskier’s chin and leaned forward, pressing their lips together.

Jaskier froze under him and he quickly made to pull back, worried he had misread the situation after all, but Jaskier grabbed Eskel by the neck, pulling him further into the kiss. Eskel deepened the kiss, running his tongue across the seam of the other man’s lips, eliciting a moan from Jaskier.

Not pausing the kiss, Jaskier moved to straddle Eskel, settling on his lap. Eskel set his hands on Jaskier’s hips, drawing the man even closer, startling another moan from the bard.

Jaskier let out a gasp when he felt Eskel’s erection grind into his own, rocking his hips down to get more friction. Eskel slid Jaskier’s doublet off of his shoulders and then traced his hands down Jaskier’s chest slowly, finally gripping his waist.

Jaskier broke the kiss, gasping for air, still grinding their hips together. Eskel continued kissing down Jaskier’s neck, making sure to nip at the spot just behind the bard’s ear, making him whimper. Jaskier let out a breathy moan and moved his hands into Eskel’s hair just as he felt the witcher freeze below him.

“Jask,” Eskel whispered calmly, “when I say, I need you to your right as quickly as possible, okay?”

Jaskier’s eyes met Eskel’s and the bard nodded.

“Now!”

Jaskier launched himself out of Eskel’s lap just as Eskel threw himself forward, grabbing his silver sword and clashing with the creature in front of him.

_Where in the hell did a katakan come from?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is baby's first fight scene so be gentle (I think it turned out pretty alright though). This chapter is a little short but the next one shouldn't take me as long (I was intimidated by the fight scene)

Eskel grunted at the impact of his blade meeting the creature’s claws. Katakans were strong and fast and vicious and Eskel knew he wouldn’t come out of this fight unscathed. Eskel pushed forward, one hand around the hilt of the sword, the other resting on the flat of the blade, sending the katakan stumbling backwards with a hiss. Eskel wasted no time, taking the opportunity to send a blast of aard toward the vampire, blowing it back a few more paces, giving Eskel time to ready himself for the rest of the fight.

The katakan stood back up and disappeared from view, _fucking vampires_. Eskel slowed and zeroed in on his hearing, listening for the katakan’s movements so that he could cast yrden, rendering the vampire visible again. A rustling sound to his left made him jump into action, casting yrden. The katakan growled as it came back into view, rushing at Eskel.

Dodging to the side just in time, Eskel was able to slice the katakan’s arms with his silver sword. The katakan whirled around, far quicker than Eskel could move, one of it’s claws slashing Eskel’s side. He let out a low groan and backed away, watching the katakan lick his blood off of its claw. _Black blood sure would be handy right about now_ , he thought to himself.

“Eskel, catch!”

The witcher spun around just in time to grab hold of a small bottle flying through the air, _black blood_. The bard was more clever than Eskel had anticipated. Spinning back around to face the katakan stalking forward, Eskel shot a blast of igni at the monster, making it screech. While the katakan was distracted Eskel downed the bottle of black blood, throwing the now empty vial to the side.

Stalking toward the katakan, Eskel snarled, holding his blade at the ready. The katakan lunged forward, hissing, and managed to dig its claws into Eskel’s arm as the witcher slashed it again with his sword. Eskel retreated, watching the katakan lift it’s claws to it’s mouth, tasting Eskel’s blood.

Eskel smiled sharply as the katakan made a gagging noise, Eskel’s blood now poisoned thanks to the potion. The katakan screeched at Eskel, making him laugh, “Doesn’t taste good, does it?”

Screeching again, the katakan surged forward but this time, Eskel was ready. He dodged to the left just before the katakan could grab him with its outstretched claws and cast aard, hitting the katakan in the side, unbalancing it and knocking it to the ground. The witcher was over it in only a second, stabbing through the neck.

Kneeling down over the vampire, Eskel severed the head before looking back to Jaskier, signaling it was once again safe.

As Jaskier crept closer, Eskel remained hunched over the monster, breathing hard, “Are you okay?” Jaskier asked softly.

“I will be.”

Jaskier frowned at Eskel’s answer, “Do you need anything?”

Eskel groaned softly, sitting up, “Just to get this bastard’s claws out of my gut without losing anything important.”

Jaskier’s eyes grew wide as he finally saw the wound in Eskel’s stomach, the katakan’s claws still in it. He circled the vampire and dropped to his knees at Eskel’s side, “Can I-”.

“Don’t touch anything,” Eskel cut off Jaskier sharply, “my blood is still poisoned from the potion, best not to get any of it on you.”

Jaskier nodded, swallowing harshly, eyes still glued to the wound, “Okay. What can I do?”

“Grab my potions. I’ll take white honey to get rid of the poison and then swallow to help close this up.”

Hurrying back over to Eskel’s potion bag, Jaskier quickly rifled through the contents, finding the two bottles, and rushed back to Eskel’s side, kneeling again, carefully avoiding any blood spilt on the ground.

Eskel drank the bottle of white honey, waiting a few seconds as the effects took hold, and the drank the bottle of swallow, finally pulling the katakan’s claws from his gut with a wince. Eskel stood up, clutching at his wound, and swaying slightly, making Jaskier reach out to steady him.

Eskel dodged the bards outstretched hands, “The blood on me is still toxic. Let me get these clothes off and rinse off the wound and then you can check on me.”

Jaskier nodded, following close behind Eskel.

The two are quiet as Eskel slips off his clothes and starts wiping the drying blood off of him. Jaskier fidgets on the log he’s sat himself upon, itching to be useful, to help clean and bandage the witcher in front of him.

Finally, Eskel turns back to Jaskier, wearing just his small clothes, “Help bandage up my stomach?”

Jaskier shoots from his seat, urging Eskel to instead sit. Following the bard’s lead, Eskel sits down on his bed roll, allowing Jaskier to kneel on it next to him.

Jaskier is quiet while he works, his fingers deft as they wrap bandages, his eyes focused, his tongue sticking out slightly between his lips as be concentrates. Tying off the bandages, Jaskier presses a soft hand to Eskel’s side, “All done.”

Eskel looks up, his eyes meeting Jaskier’s, “Thank you, for everything. That was quick thinking, throwing me the black blood.”

Jaskier blushed, “Geralt always says it’s best to go into a vampire fight tasting as disgusting as possible.”

Eskel snorted a laugh, grimacing and clutching his still healing gut through the bandage.

“I’m sorry I distracted you.” Jaskier finally said quietly, his eyes were focused over Eskel’s shoulder and his jaw was tense.

Eskel cupped Jaskier’s cheek, drawing Jaskier’s gaze back to his, “It wasn’t your fault. I let myself get distracted. Thought we were safe. It was just an accident.” Eskel’s eyes flickered down to look at Jaskier’s lips before he made eye contact again, “It’s probably best we don’t get quite so distracted again until we’re somewhere with a door, though. If you do want to… get distracted again.”

Jaskier nodded fervently, “I think getting distracted sounds like a good time. But… it does sound better behind a locked door.”

“Well then, it’s settled. We’ll have to find a room with a door.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No editing to be found so if you see anything ridiculous let me know! <3 Updates for this story are posted on my tumblr @electricrituals AND I'm hosting a 500 Follower Raffle right now so go follow me for more writing!!

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on tumblr @electricrituals


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